66 Journal of Agriculiitre. [8 Feb.. J907. 



not allowed to slip back at any time. The whole of the manipulations 

 should, if possible, be done under the iskin (sub-cutaneous embryotomy), 

 so that the wall of the womb and passage may noF be injured ; and, 

 besides, the cutting or tearing of the soft tissues of the foetus is a much 

 easier matter than the severance of the skin, which is tough and difficult 

 to cut, even before birth. The first incision through the skin should 

 be made lengthways of the shank, and extend from the knee to the fetlock. 

 The spatula is then introduced, and manipulated with the hand, so that 

 the skin may be dissected from the limb progressively, as far as the 

 witheis on the outside, and the chest on the inside. At the back of the 

 knee, the point of the elbow, and some other places, it may be necessars' 

 to use the knife to effect complete separation of the skin. As the dis- 

 section proceeds upwards, the first skin incision is extended on the outside 

 of the limb right up to the withers. The limb is then disjointed at the 

 pastern joint, and a cord attached above the fetlock, so that traction may 

 be applied. Wherever resistance to the cord-pulling is offered, the flesh 

 must be severed with the knife, when the skinned limb will pull away 

 without difficulty. 



The same method should be followed in the case of a hind limb, 

 except that the hip joint will need to be dislocated with the knife. 



When one or, at most, twO' limbs are removed, the rectification of the 

 position of the foetus and its deliverv may oftentimes be rendered com- 

 parativelv easy. 



Firing. 



In human surgery, firing, or, to use a euphemism, " the application of 

 the actual cautery," is considered to be a relic of the days of barbarism, 

 but in veterinary practice the operation is still much in vogue, and has, for 

 its justification, consideral)le success in the cure of manv otherwise intract- 

 able lamenesses and limb lesions. An explanation of this difference 

 between the practice of human and veterinary surgeons may be found in 

 the fact that many of the conditions for which firing, proves so successful 

 in horses either occur but rarely or not at all in the list of human ailments. 

 Of such conditions, the various inflammatory bone lesions of the limbs of 

 horses — splints, ringbones, sidebones, and spavins — and the chronic sprains 

 associated with curb, bowed tendon, and sprain of the suspensory ligament, 

 may be mentioned as instances in which firing is successful above all 

 other methods of treatment. 



It is not intended to discuss the theories as to the therapeutical action 

 of firing, but the opinion may be ad^'anced that in most cases its curative 

 action depends upon the increased local circulation and vascularity which 

 it induces, whereby there is a hastening of the process of repair, whether 

 of sprained tendon or injured periosteum. Certain it is that a ringbone 

 or splint mil "set" and a sprained tendon will "callous" after the 

 application of the firing iron in less than half the time that the process 

 would otherwise occupy. 



Two methods of firing are mostlv in use — viz., " line-firing " and 

 " point-firing," or pyro-puncture. Line-firing is adopted for sprains of the 

 back tendons, curb, ringbone, sidebone, spavin, &c., while point-firing is 

 especiallv effective for splints. It is also sometimes more effective for 

 spavins and sidebones, when the inflammatory action (ostitis) is deep 

 seated. 



